Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club: Farm City

For our next selection Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club, we will be reading Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter.

I have reserved a meeting room at the Takoma Park* DC Neighborhood Library
Room in the downstairs Meeting Room on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. 

The room allows food and drink and you may bring your dinner and/or snacks to share.

I have made sure that the DC library and other local library systems currently have several copies available for borrowing of Farm City.

The book club meetings are FREE and open to anyone who would like to attend.

Please RSVP to "WG Book Club" at WashingtonGardener@rcn.com. I will be limiting attendance to 20. If you need to cancel, let me know ASAP so we can give your spot to someone else, should we have a wait-list.

In case you like to read ahead, the Fall 2013 book club selections is:

Beatrix Farrand: Private Gardens, Public Landscapes by Judith Tankard

I will announce the date for the next book club meetings after each previous meeting. We will meet roughly once each quarter.

*Note that there is also a Takoma Park, MD town library. This meeting will take place at the library in Takoma, DC at 416 Cedar Street, NW, WDC. It is just a couple blocks from the Takoma metro station and is near several bus lines. Street parking is available.

Video Wednesday: Prof. Doug Tallamy on Sustainable Landscaping

Prif. Doug Tallamy at University of Delaware, the author of the award-winning book Bringing Nature Home, has identified the top 10 native plants for butterflies and moths in the Mid-Atlantic region. More information at: http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/may/landscaping-plants-050713.html.

Cicada Tips

The Brood II cicada invasion have arrived in parts of Virginia and Maryland. The females can cause damage to some young and small trees and shrubs, such as lilacs, crepe myrtles, and ornamental cherries. Experts from Davey Tree say there are several things you can do to protect your trees:

1. Delay pruning your trees until the cicadas are gone. This can help remove some of the limbs they have damaged.

2. Protect smaller trees is by covering them with a breathable covering like cheesecloth, Reemay fabric, or tulle.

3. Put out additional bird feeders because birds naturally prey on cicadas.

Photo credit: By William H. Majoros (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

A Special Note to Our Loyal Readers...

I posted the following note in the latest Washington Gardener Enews:

Some of you may be aware, but most of you are not, that my father went into hospice care with Colorectal Cancer last fall and passed away in the winter. I suspended publication of the magazine for those two quarters. The Spring 2013 issue is in production and will go out shortly. I sincerely apologize for the delay.
   Current subscribers have had their records adjusted to extend their subscriptions by two additional issues.
   New subscribers will start their subscription with the Spring 2013 issue and will receive a full year of issues. I am working on catching up and getting “welcome” notices out to all of you.
   During this time, I have tried to ensure that this monthly enewsletter and all other aspects of the Washington Gardener brand (bus tours, book club, seed exchanges, blog posts, garden talks, etc.) were without interruption.
   I am grateful for the support and friendship of so many of you in the local gardening world and from family and friends.

Sincerely,
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener Magazine

PS Since putting this note in the Enews, several people have asked how they can help, so I put this list together:
~ Subscribe or Renew to Washington Gardener Magazine
~ Let all your local gardener friends know about Washington Gardener Magazine
~ Forward, Like, Retweet, Link, G+, Pin, etc. Washington Gardener Magazine social media posts online
~ Ask your local library to carry Washington Gardener Magazine
~ Suggest to your local garden center/nursery that they advertise in Washington Gardener Magazine
~ Have your garden club contact Washington Gardener Magazine for a speaker for an upcoming meeting
Again, thank you for your offerings of sympathy and assistance. It is very much appreciated.

Fenton Friday: Berry Promising

This week in my community garden plot we had some bizarre weather. On Monday night we had the latest spring frost in a hundred+ years. Then 36 hours later it was almost 90 degrees. I was pleased to not have lost anything in the plot to the frost. I have not planted my tomato seedlings yet and threw a plastic shower curtain over them. I hope to plant them early next week when the soil has warmed up.

This week I planted okra and nasturtium. My bean seeds sprouted and all came up. The strawberries are heavy with fruit about to ripen. I have high hopes of actually getting to eat some this year!

My radishes went from cherry-sized to softball-size in a matter of four days. I have been pulling them and giving them away left and right plus eating a few with my dinner each night. The lettuce is all in and I cut a stretch of it to make salads for myself and to share as well.

The carrots are coming along nicely and still no blossoms on my sugarsnap peas -- will try to be patient for both of those.

bean seedlings

strawberries pre-ripening

Washington Gardener Enews ~ May 2013 ~ The Turnip Point - Growing and Cooking This Tasty Brassica

The Washington Gardener Enews ~ May 2013 issue is now sent to all current Washington Gardener Magazine subscribers. It is also posted and archived online at: http://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/wgenews-may13

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
~ A Special Note to Our Readers

~ The Turnip Point - Growing and Cooking This Tasty Brassica

~ Top Local Garden Events Calendar for May-June

~ Magazine Excerpt: Eastern Hemlocks Threatened

~ Mid-Atlantic Garden To-Do List for May-June
~ Reader Contest: Win Passes to the Wings of Fancy Butterfly Exhibit at Brookside Gardens

~ Washington Gardener's Recent Blog Post Highlights
~ Spotlights Special: Chapel View™ Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)

~ Washington Gardener Magazine Back Issue Sale!
and much more... 

You can access it as well as all of the other Washington Gardener Enews back issues online now and anytime in the future at http://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: May Blossoms

It is the 15th of the month, which means Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. To view links to other garden bloggers' blooms around the world to see what it blooming in their gardens and to read their collective comments, go to http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/.

Here is a small selection of what is blooming in my garden on the Washington, DC/Silver Spring, MD border -- solid USDA zone 7. We had a blast of late frost this week (see earlier post today) and this spring has been a long, cool one in general. It has also been a very windy week and that has done more damage than the cold -- a few tall irises have snapped off and my jasmine and other vines have taken a beating. More winds expected today along with a high of 85 degrees. Go figure!

It is kind of a relief really not to have EVERYTHING blooming at once and to get to enjoy things at a more relaxed pace. I would estimate that my blooms are about a week behind what they are in a "normal" year here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Weigela florida shrub

Euphorbia

Native honeysuckle vine